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lancedb/docs/web/sql/operators.mdx
Jack YeandBrendan Clement 47b7babc08 docs: bring the open-source documentation into this repository (#4122)
Move the public website pages into `docs/web` beside the SDK, with
shared navigation and executable example sources in `docs/web-tests`.
The combined website is assembled by
[lancedb/docs#355](https://github.com/lancedb/docs/pull/355), with six
Enterprise replacements from
[lancedb/sophon#7681](https://github.com/lancedb/sophon/pull/7681).

This includes Function guidance, runnable Quickstarts, regenerated
snippets, production contact/demo fixes, the legacy SQL route, and the
LeRobot redirect. LeRobot remains attributed to Geneva; all 34 Geneva
pages remain in the docs repository until Function officially launches.

Materialized-view guidance follows the full rebuild refresh introduced
by #4373: local refresh writes the complete result, has no `full`
argument, supports `source_version`, and no longer requires stable row
IDs. Deployment SQL refresh options and stable-ID setup are qualified by
version/configuration. Function input guidance distinguishes ordinary
stored columns from computed inputs supported by newer deployments.

**Validation:** independently accepted local checks include 95 Python
tests (real Enterprise excluded), eight TypeScript tests, Rust
Quickstart, snippet parity, typos, deterministic assembly, Mint
validation and links/anchors/redirects. The combined baseline retains
all 181 production routes and 17 legacy redirects. Examples ran locally
against source-built Python SDK 0.40.0b13; existing GitHub workflows do
not run `docs/web-tests`. New main at `069b2f7d` is 0.41.0b0 and adds
computed Function inputs; that SDK was not exercised by the accepted
tests. Latest prose corrections receive focused site validation.

**Merge/rollout:** merge this and #7681 before #355's combined CI, which
reads producer `main`. This is migration infrastructure: section
overlays, source-owned skills and automatic versioned paired releases
remain follow-ups. The current manual publisher is transitional. Hosted
validation, a supported SDK/Enterprise release pair and a real
Enterprise walkthrough remain pending.

Production Mintlify watches `lancedb/docs:deploy-freeze`, directory
`docs`; preserve that source through review. The separate SDK GitHub
Pages reference workflow rebuilds on main merges.

**Updated-head CI (9a50f8db):**
[Typos](https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/actions/runs/37654185443/job/112904990558),
[PR
title](https://github.com/lancedb/lancedb/actions/runs/37654179507/job/112904974595)
and
[Aikido](https://app.aikido.dev/featurebranch/scan/215386145?groupId=74229)
pass. Critical findings in the example lockfiles were patched: all Sharp
copies use 0.35.5, protobufjs 7.6.6, tar 7.5.22, quinn-proto 0.11.19,
zerovec 0.11.8 and zerovec-derive 0.11.6. The SDK's product dependencies
are unchanged. The revised lockfiles pass eight TypeScript examples,
HuggingFace decode/resize/crop/rescale/normalize plus AVIF roundtrip,
and Rust Quickstart. Aikido passing does not mean every advisory is
cleared; npm still reports 29 high and five moderate advisories in the
example dependency graph. No scanner bypass or suppression was added.

The Function prose correction passes combined/standalone Mint,
deterministic assembly, routes and assets. The revised 325-file site
checksum is
`175bec06864abb400dd292e667ba93448c0479b8359fd7bf6146afabf9040647`. This
PR remains open for independent review; further merges are on hold.

---------

Co-authored-by: Brendan Clement <brendan.clement@lancedb.com>
2026-10-07 11:15:00 -07:00

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---
title: "Operators and literals"
sidebarTitle: "Operators"
description: "Comparison, logical and arithmetic operators, literals, and precedence."
icon: plus-minus
keywords: ["operators", "literals", "precedence", "null", "cast", "interval"]
---
<Badge color="red">Enterprise</Badge> [SQL runs on a deployment.](/sql)
The operator set is DataFusion's. This page covers what is worth knowing when
the operands are Lance columns.
## Comparison {#comparison}
| | |
| --- | --- |
| `=` `!=` `<>` `<` `<=` `>` `>=` | ordinary comparison |
| `IS NULL` / `IS NOT NULL` | null test — `= NULL` is never true |
| `IS DISTINCT FROM` | comparison that treats null as a value |
| `BETWEEN a AND b` | inclusive range |
| `IN (...)` | set membership |
| `LIKE` / `ILIKE` | pattern match, `%` and `_` |
| `~` `~*` `!~` | regular expression match |
<Note>
For keyword matching on a text column, [`contains_tokens`](/sql/scalar-functions#contains-tokens)
is index-accelerated where `LIKE` is not. Reach for `LIKE` only when you need
its wildcard semantics.
</Note>
## Logical {#logical}
`AND`, `OR`, `NOT`. Three-valued: a comparison against null is **unknown**, and
`NOT unknown` is still unknown. A `WHERE` clause keeps only rows where the
predicate is true, so unknown behaves like false there — but not inside `NOT
IN`, which is the usual place this bites. See
[Subqueries](/sql/dql/subqueries#in-exists).
## Arithmetic {#arithmetic}
`+` `-` `*` `/` `%`, with the usual precedence. String concatenation is `||`.
<Warning>
Arithmetic over a vector column is **list** arithmetic, not scalar arithmetic —
a vector is a `FixedSizeList<Float32>`. When the operation you want is a
similarity comparison, use [vector search](/search/vector-search); there is no
SQL form for it.
</Warning>
## Literals {#literals}
| | |
| --- | --- |
| String | `'text'` — doubled quote to escape: `'it''s'` |
| Number | `42`, `3.14` |
| Boolean | `TRUE`, `FALSE` |
| Null | `NULL` |
| Date / timestamp | `DATE '2026-01-01'`, `TIMESTAMP '2026-01-01 12:00:00'` |
| Interval | `INTERVAL '7 days'` |
| Array | `[1, 2, 3]` |
Identifiers are quoted with double quotes when they need to be — a reserved word
or a name with mixed case: `SELECT "order" FROM "MyTable"`.
## Casting {#casting}
```sql
SELECT CAST(identifier AS VARCHAR), identifier::VARCHAR FROM documents
```
Both forms work. `TRY_CAST` returns null instead of erroring on a value that
will not convert, which is the one to use over a column you do not control.
## Precedence {#precedence}
Highest to lowest: `::` → unary `-` → `* / %` → `+ -` → `||` → comparison →
`IS` → `NOT` → `AND` → `OR`.
Parenthesize anything mixing `AND` and `OR`. `a OR b AND c` is `a OR (b AND c)`,
which is rarely what was meant.